The present invention relates to a METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING BATTERY PLATES, and more particularly to a system for facilitating the formation, washing, treating, preserving and drying operations on the plates.
Conventional battery plate formation apparatus already known includes electrolyte containing formation tanks equipped with fixed racks adapted to support the plate panels. The positive and negative plate panels are inserted one at a time into the formation tank racks. The tanks are then filled with electrolyte, and the plate panels are connected to a source of electrical energy to form and charge the plates. The plates are then removed one at a time, sorted, washed, dried in steam or in a neutral atmosphere, and/or otherwise treated to preserve them, and then are assembled into batteries.
In such presently used systems a large amount of work has to be done in the formation room under very unpleasant conditions, including a lot of stooping work. Since the work has to be done over a large floor area, it is very difficult to provide each formation tank with sufficient exhaust to protect the work from contact with undesirable materials. Also, the formation tanks in at least some sections of the formation room are undergoing charging to the battery plates, and the worker will necessarily be exposed to electrolyte fumes for a considerable period of time. The positive and negative plate panels have to be placed individually into the formation tank rack under the described deleterious conditions. After the formation treatment is completed, adverse working conditions are again encountered as the formed and charged panels are withdrawn one at a time from the formation tank, are separated according to polarity, and are placed on other racks to be washed and dried.